1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to portable appliances for informing users of urban bus networks about waiting times for buses at various stops in such networks.
2. The Prior Art
Amongst such appliances, the present invention relates more particularly to those that are suitable for cooperating with an installation designed to generate and transmit signals, preferably cyclically and over an electromagnetic path, which signals provide information about the respective instantaneous real positions of the buses of the network. The appliance includes an electrical power supply, user-actuatable interrogation means suitable for identifying any specified stop of the network, means suitable for receiving the above-mentioned signals and for selecting those of said signals which relate at least to the "next bus" expected at the identified stop, and means including a video screen suitable for displaying on said screen information associated with the waiting time for the next bus at said stop.
Such portable appliances have been described, for example, in the Applicant's French patent No. 92 09042.
In the embodiments of such appliances that are described more particularly in that patent, each display on the appliance concerning waiting times for next buses expected at a given stop requires the user to actuate a plurality of keys included in a keypad for the purpose of identifying the line in the network that includes the stop under consideration, the travel direction of the bus along said line, and the stop itself.